


All Working Out to Plan

by Dexidoodle



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, I Don't Give Warnings, good luck, shit happens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-10-28 15:04:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17789630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dexidoodle/pseuds/Dexidoodle
Summary: A Post-Hogwarts Sorta Thing.A Marriage Law Sorta Thing.Don't wanna give too much away, mostly 'cause I'm not sure what's going happen myself... I'm sure it will all work out fine in the end though.You Can Trust Me.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Why am I starting another multi-chapter work when I haven't finished my last? Crazy Talk.  
> As always unbeta'd, will fix any mistakes pointed out.

*** Tuesday Morning - 18th May 1999 ***

She glared furiously at the little plastic bottle in her hand and then turned her baleful gaze back towards the mirror to regard her reflection. She looked like she'd stuck her finger in a light socket.

"Seventy-two hour frizz control, my nuts." She gritted in disgust, tossing the little bottle of oil into the rubbish bin below the sink with a loud clatter.

She sighed and reached for her wide toothed comb in resignation, tugging forcefully through her impossible mane of chestnut curls. It was like wrangling with Medusas snakes but she eventually managed to pull it all back into an acceptable, if somewhat unruly bun at the back of her head.

She knew with every product that she purchased that she was wasting her money but she lived in naive hope that one day... ONE DAY... She would find something that would actually work as it promised in the commercials.

She glanced back at the mirror for a beat, grimaced and then left her ensuite with an air of discontent.

Her favourite shoes were missing too. She sighed as her cinnamon and honey coloured eyes scanned her bedroom floor. She toed the valance on her bed aside and tilted her head for a quick look underneath, letting it fall when the search proved fruitless. She pursed her lips in thought.

Ah, right... she'd left them by the front door, kicked them off in a relieved bout of impromptu disrobing right inside her short and narrow hallway the evening before. It had been a long day. She snorted as she also remembered that her bra was sitting on the hall table. She had struggled out of it, wrestling it out from under her shirt with a groan and tossing it aside before going in search of a large glass of pinot gris.

She trailed through her flat noting the position of her satchel and her cell phone as she passed the coffee table. They had been placed carefully down, not haphazardly thrown around like the rest of her belongings had been. They were her livelihood after all.

Yep, there they were. Shoes found, bra collected and jacket retrieved from where it had lain discarded on the floor. She hopped into the kitchen, slipping her low heeled pumps over her toes one at a time.

The coffee maker was still dripping away into the carafe, taking way too long as usual. She pulled her clean travel mug out of the dishwasher and yanked the carafe from under the peculator... it continued to drip coffee onto the hotplate beneath, hissing spitefully as she filled her mug. She replaced it swiftly, catching the next drip before it hit the element. She realised that she had no sugar. It was grocery day. But with a sudden flash of genius, remembered the stash of sachets that she snagged from the coffee house down the road and had shoved in the top drawer. These were quickly sourced, torn open and dumped in her coffee. She jammed the lid onto her travel mug and sipped cautiously, smacking her lips and groaning as the brew slipped down her throat and warmed her stomach, dispersing the much needed caffeine to where it needed to be.

She checked her wristwatch and swore loudly, raced into her lounge and collected her phone and satchel. Her eyes darted around the room in a panic, settling finally on her keys sticking out from under an old issue of Hello! magazine. She plucked them up at speed and flung herself into the hallway.

She struggled with the sticky lock on the front door, juggling her satchel, phone, travel mug and kegs. She tripped on her uneven front path, again and always, sending drops of dark coffee onto her once crisp, white shirt. Why did she insist on wearing white? Why? WHY?

She was halfway to the tube station when her cell phone rang. It would be Leanne. She wasn't even technically late yet but it was sure to be Leanne. Yep, it was Leanne.

"Hi, Hi." She chirped, trying to disguise the breathless state of her voice.

"You're not even on the train yet, are you." Leannes clipped, no-nonsense voice barked. It wasn't a question.

"Uhhh... " She started down the stairs to the station, trying to dig for her pass in her voluminous satchel as she talked, wedging the phone between her shoulder and her ear.

"Minnie, " Leanne snapped. "You have a very important presentation in twenty minutes... A Very BIG meeting. This is your chance."

"I'll be there." Minnie gasped, swiping her pass quickly and pushing through the turnstile.

"Humph. Nineteen minutes!" Leanne warned tersely before disconnecting the call.

Minnie squeaked. 

Cannot Miss Train... Cannot Miss... Arghhh!

She broke into a run, angled her body and just slipped through the closing doors of the train car. She skidded to a halt on the other side, entering the personal space of a dour looking, middle aged man in a slightly wrinkled grey suit. She mumbled an apology and looked around the compartment resignedly. No Seats. Typical. She sighed, noting that she seemed to be doing that quite a lot lately and tugged the tatty paperback out of her satchel. She located the dog-eared page and let her mind retreat into the story for the few minutes her trip would take, swaying on her feet in time with the motion of the train and sipping at her rapidly cooling coffee. It was a too brief calm before the storm.

Her stop came up and she tucked the novel back into her satchel. She glanced at her watch again. If she walked quickly (she steadfastly refused to run again and arrive breathless and sweaty... and in these shoes... No.) she would be right on time, give or take a minute. She was the first out of the pneumatic doors and took the stairs out of the tube station two at a time. She did a fair impression of a speed walker all the way to the impressive frontage of the GeoSim Enterprises building.

"Ohhh, cutting it close, Min." Rachel hissed as she all but stumbled passed the giant reception desk.

"I know, I know." She groaned, swiping her ID Card and dropping all of her burdens on Rachels desk in an untidy pile.

"You have a stain." Rachel supplied helpfully.

"I know." Minnie clipped back with irritation. She smoothed back her hair and buttoned up her jacket over her coffee stained shirt. "Are they here?"

"Yup, only just though." Rachel grinned, tucking Minnies things off her desk and piling them tidily on the floor at her feet and picked up a bright red, GeoSim logoed ring binder, laying it before Minnie. "It's just one guy though. Conference room one. Leanne's with him doing the big intro and induction malarkey, so you're all good." 

Minnie grimaced and checked her watch yet again and took a deep cleansing breath... She was All Good. Calm and on time.

"Okay... Wish me luck." She implored as she tucked the bulging ring binder under her arm.

"Luck!" Rachels voice followed her down the short corridor to conference room one, where she caught Leannes eye through the glass.

Her formidable boss nodded at her to enter and continued to speak to the man seated at the large boardroom table with his back to the door. Minnie discretely eased into the room, closing the door quietly and clutching the binder tight to her chest as Leanne concluded her spiel. She waited unobtrusively, glad someone else was responsible for singing the praises of the company and hyping up the staff. 

Minnie was very young to be in this game and it had taken a lot of hard work to win favour here. This would be her first presentation, showing somebody one of her innovations, shocking as it was that anyone would be interested in it and she didn't want her age to scare away the potential client. That was why Leanne had taken the lead with this man. This very upright and proper looking gentleman, at least, from the back.

He held himself ramrod straight in his chair. The perfectly tailored, charcoal pinstripe suit was pressed within an inch of its life, nary a wrinkle to be seen. His glossy raven-black hair was slicked back and held fast by a black band at his nape. It looked immaculate and Minnie started to feel more than a little nervous..

No time for nerves though. This was it. Leanne was right, this was her chance, her whole future could be decided right now in this room.

Leanne looked up at her again and gave a little smile, wrapping up her speech.

"... and so, on that note, I'd like to turn you over to GeoSims assistant head of R&D..." She held out her arm as if presenting a brand new refrigerator to a game show contestant, Minnie being said shiny new fridge. "Mr Prince.... may I present Minerva Snape." Leanne tittered a little as Minnie took a step forwards. It was all for show, Leanne was no titterer. "... don't let her young appearance fool you. She's a regular dynamo and a certified genius to boot." 

The man, Mr Prince, stood slowly from his chair and Minnie moved forwards properly with a welcoming (and thoroughly professional) smile on her face. He paused slightly at the sound of her name but continued on to reach his full, not inconsiderable height.

And then he turned... ... And then all of the oxygen was sucked out of the room.

Minnies mouth fell open, her eyes popped unbelievably wide and a gasp issued from deep within her torso.

Nope.... No way... nononono... NO!

He took a few sinuous strides towards her. His elegant, long fingered hand extended and his fathomless ebony eyes raking over her.

"A pleasure." He drawled in a masterfully controlled baritone. "Miss... Snape?"


	2. Chapter 2

*** Tuesday Morning - 18th May 1999 ***  
* 1 year, 2 weeks and 2 days since the Battle of Hogwarts *

Dead Dead Dead... He's Dead... I watched him Die!

It took everything she had to pull herself together. Leanne was still in the room for crying out loud. 

His hand was still hanging in mid air, still extended out to her. His left eyebrow cocked. It had been for a while now.

She gulped in air, she didn't know exactly how. Maybe her survival instinct kicked in without her consciously knowing it, but somehow, her lungs filled, emptied and then filled again. She slowly raised her shaky hand and watched it become enveloped in the dry heat of his. He shook it once... twice and then released it, stepping back from her and straightening his slim frame to tower over her once again. 'Was he always this tall?' she bemusedly thought.

Minnie could do nothing but stare up at him with her mouth open. She dared not speak, she could not trust the stability of her voice, let alone what words her brain would cause to spill from her lips. How was THIS MAN standing in front of her ALIVE? 

He stared back down at her. She remembered those eyes so well. Dark and slick as tar. She could well imagine getting stuck fast by them and slowly dying much like the dinosaurs. His face was, as it had always been when he desired it, completely unreadable, every emotion buried under layers of experience in espionage.

"Well then." Leannes voice seeped into Minnies awareness and Severus Snape, Mr Prince, tore his eyes away from her, a frown upon his features... 'So familiar' Minnie mused absently, her mind still befuddled.

"Why don't we all take a seat and Minerva can show us what has GeoSim so excited."

Snape... Prince... turned back towards Minnies boss.

"Ms Prescott." Snape... Princes velvety voice caused a shiver to run up Minnies spine. "Are you in any way familiar with the science that is involved with this project at all?" He asked softly.

"Not a jot." Leanne chuckled "I am ..."

"Then you are of little value... you may go." He waved his hand dismissively effectively cutting the woman off and Minnie gasped

Leanne looked like she had just swallowed a particularly sour lemon, her face flushed at being banished from her own conference room... but ... the client gets what the client wants.

"I shall leave you two to discuss Minervas findings and if you are pleased with what you see, then you and I can discuss matters further." She said stiffly, trying to imply it was her idea to leave.

Leanne inclined her head towards Mr Prince... Snape... and gave Minnie a long look and retreated from the room, clicking the door closed so it sounded quite piqued.

The conference room was suddenly very quiet. Minnie still stood awkwardly where he had left her. She had somehow found the ability to close her mouth and her eyes had returned to their regular size and she had assigned them the task of observing the carpet.

"Miss... Snape?" Snape enquired. 

"How are you here?" She whispered.

"Now really, Miss Granger, you must speak up." Snape snapped. "This is no way to conduct a presentation. Five points from Gryffindor."

Hermiones head popped up and her spooked eyes lasered into his.

"How are you here?" She ground out. "How did you find me?" 

Snape snorted. "Find you?... That would imply that I cared to look. No my dear, I am here because GeoSim submitted a patent on a product that I, and the parties that I represent, are interested in. As for HOW I am here, well, if you had kept abreast with current affairs you would know that for yourself already."

Snape leaned his hip against the table and folded his arms across his chest, looking down his prodigious nose at her. "Now as to MY enquiry, why are you fannying about as a muggle with my name?"

Hermione stepped up to the table and lay the red ring binder upon it.

"I needed an alias quickly and I used the names of my two most 'respected' professors. I couldn't very well call myself Severus McGonagall now could I?" She replied briskly, some of the old Gryffindor courage returning to her.

"Why was an alias required at all?" He asked frowning.

"Because Hermione Granger is dead in the muggle world and has been since her... well, since before... for a couple of years." She stumbled over the words.

Snape suddenly flicked his hands outwards and the rooms walls seemed to shimmer as a series of wards settled into place.

"Explain." He demanded, folding his arms again and peering down at her.

Hermione straightened her spine and instead of speaking walked around the boardroom table and sat herself demurely down in one of the comfy chairs, all the while Snapes dark eyes followed her.

"You may not be aware, Mr Snape, but you have not been my professor for quite some time and are in no position to demand answers of any kind." She said stoutly. She reached across the table and dragged the binder towards her. "Now, I believe that you were here for a presentation. We shouldn't dally now, should we." She gestured imperiously towards his vacant chair and opened the binder. She interlaced her fingers and looked up at him expectantly.

Instead of sitting, Snape rested his knuckles on the tabletop and leaned over towards her, looming .

"You have not fully explained why you are using MY name..." 

"I did explain, sir." She snapped, "I needed a name. You were a hero, you were supposed to be dead. It's much too late to change it now I've been wearing it for almost a year"

"Why?" He snarled down at her leaning even further forwards.

"Maybe sir, if you kept abreast with current affairs you would know that for yourself." She snarled back, throwing his own words back at him. 

She had come to her feet to meet him eye to eye, pressing her fingertips into the table. It was the flash of silver at her wrist that drew his eye and had her gasping in shock as he snatched hold of her arm and almost pulled her bodily over the table.

“What is this?” He asked in shock staring hard at the thin silver bangle encircling her right wrist. 

To anyone else, certainly to a muggle, it would be just that: an innocuous little bangle, a shiny trinket. But Severus Snape had seen one before… he’d been on the wrong side of the Ministry. The little bangle was just a little too small to be pulled up over the width of her hand and only just loose enough for it to move freely. Hermione tried to yank her arm out of his grasp but he had her locked in his fist.

Snape looked outraged at the sight of her trinket.

“It’s a dampening cuff.” She gritted still trying to free herself. "I'm sure you recognise one."

“Who did this?” He raged at her, like she had done something horrible to offend him. “Who took your magic?” 

She struggled free of him and sat back hard into her chair, looking up at him in surprise.

“You really don’t know?”

Snape fought to control his temper and sank down into his chair. He shook his head and looked to her for an explanation. A damned good one too.

“I was sure it would have been reported… surely.” She murmured thoughtfully, a deep frown creased her forehead. “It should have been at least a little news worthy.”

Snape was getting impatient.

Hermione looked up at him, her eyes a little confused and more than little hurt.

“The Ministry took my magic.” She said calmly. “Almost a year ago, when I refused to comply with the Marriage Law. They found me guilty of criminal disobedience and I was expelled from the magical community. They took my wand, cuffed me and sent me out into the muggle world with a new identity… seeing as mine was already filed as deceased.”

Snape just gaped at her. She was sure he had never made that face before.

“I haven’t seen or heard from anyone even remotely magical until the moment I walked into this room.” She finished with a sigh.

“They… they did this to a member of the much lauded Golden Trio?” Snape faltered. "Over their marriage law?"

Hermione shrugged, a tiny lift of her right shoulder.

“I was given a choice. Marry or suffer the consequences. This…” She pointed to the little bangle. “This was my choice… the only choice as far as I was concerned. It’s not so bad.” She shrugged again. She’d done her grieving a year ago.

Snape still looked flabbergasted. He eyed her cuff and then looked back up into her eyes.

“I thought everyone knew…” She said absently. “I thought they were using me as an example. To scare everyone else into complying. I guess not.”

“They might have. I... I have only be abound in the world again for a short time comparatively.” Snape said quietly. “As you have been unable to keep up with current affairs. I had been sequestered away for quite some time. A coma, and then recuperating…." He looked worried. "I am also subject to the Law. Six months from when it was revealed that I lived. I have two more months to find a wife.” 

Hermione snorted. “Find a wife? At least they are giving you a choice.”

“Meaning?” He said.

“Meaning I wasn’t.” She said bitterly. “Harry, a half blood lucky him, was to marry his pureblood girlfriend. Marry into one of the families associated with the sacred twenty eight no less. Ron was going to marry me, but the Ministry wanted to spread the fame around a bit. Ron was gifted with a blonde haired muggleborn named Iris I think, so that the Weasleys couldn’t claim the whole of the Golden Trio for themselves. They wanted me to marry into another pureblood family, preferably one of the twenty eight and most definitely with Deatheater leanings… You know, to show that the war is over and now we all live in peace and harmony and everyone can get along. I was offered Marcus Flint and Theo Nott. I declined both… and here I am” She gave a weak smile and fiddled with her cuff. “So… Do you want to do this presentation or not? It’s kind of my job now.”

“We can skip the presentation.” Snape replied smoothly, trying to process what he had heard. He was here for a reason though and he needed to see if she was able to accomplish what her boss had hand-on-heart promised she could do. “Seeing as you are who you are, I see no need to dance around the topic and avoid references to my craft. Can you produce a cauldron, Miss Granger?”

Hermiones eyes widened.

“You want a diamond cauldron?” She gasped. “I hadn’t thought I would need to make something quite so big… we were thinking industrial diamonds mostly. It might well be cost prohibitive.” 

“Can you produce... a cauldron?” He asked again. He leaned in, elbows on the table and his chin resting on his steepled fingertips.

“How big of a cauldron are we talking here?” She asked with no small amount of trepidation in her voice.

Snape drew a small square of paper from out of his breast pocket and enlarged it with a lazy wave of his hand. He passed the parchment documents over to her and she looked them over for a few minutes.

She nibbled thoughtfully on her lower lip and absently tapped her fingernail on the table top.

“Yes.” She said finally. “I can make this, but the cost.”

“And it would be flawless, no joins or faults.”

“The whole point of the discovery was that it was malleable and could be formed into anything while maintaining its integrity” She was a little affronted. “The cost for something this big…”

“I shall discuss the cost with the muggle woman.” He said dismissively. “I will also require stones at exact weights and proportions as ingredients, but I will owl you… fax? you the specifications at a later date.” 

He stood swiftly and gracefully from his seat. She saw his wand discretely in his hand and saw the walls shimmer again as the wards dropped. He strode to the door without a backwards glance.

He paused on the threshold. “We’re not done speaking though, Miss Snape, about the other matter. I shall be in contact with you shortly” His silky baritone drifted over his shoulder as he left her alone in the conference room with the click of the door closing behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why did AO3 only post half the chapter the first time....?  
> Mysteries aye?


	3. Chapter 3

*** Tuesday Afternoon - 18th May 1999 ***

* 1 year, 2 weeks and 2 days since the Battle of Hogwarts *

Work.

That's what she needed to do... Work.

She sat on a high stool in her lab and translated the parchment documents into muggle-friendly schematics. As her pencil flew across the page, her mind began to wander as it sometimes did these days...

*** *** ***  
_"Name?" The ministry official barked officially at her from across his ludicrously large and ornate desk._

_"Minerva Snape"_

_He raised an incredulous eyebrow at her. "Middle Name?"_

_"Do I need a middle name?"_

_He shrugged and scribbled at a crisp looking sheet of parchment with an official looking quill._

_"Your wand, Miss Snape."_

_Her hand shook a little as she lay her wand on the desk top._

_"Ten and three quarter inches long, Vinewood, Dragon Heartstring Core." The officious official intoned as he scribbled. Hermiones bottom lip quivered so she bit into it to keep it still. This was the second time she'd had her wand taken from her, the first being by snatchers during the war._

_Her wand levitated above the desktop and a thin ribbon of light surrounded it, condensing into a black ribbon with a paper label attached with all of the wands details and her name 'Hemione Jean Granger - aka Minerva Snape - Confiscated: 21st May 1998'_

_"Hold out your wand arm, please, Miss Snape."_

_She held out her right hand as bid, pleased that her hand was steady. She would not give them the satisfaction of seeing her break._

_The Official cast a lazy loop around her wrist with his wand and a thick heavy iron shackle appeared around it. The shackle began to shrink and slowly change colour from rusty slate grey to a gleaming silver until it sat snugly around her wrist like delicate silver bangle. The Official looked her in the eye and grimaced before tapping the innocuous looking trinket with his wand._

_She felt an unsettling, almost painful thud within her as the cuff activated, violently gathering all of her magic and stuffing into an inaccessible box and burying it so deeply that she could not even feel its whisper any more. The feeling nearly drove her to her knees and bought a barrage of bereaved tears to her eyes. She felt something of immeasurable value had just been torn from her. Something she needed more than an organ, her heart, a lung. She felt violated and vulnerable._

_She heard an uncomfortable shuffling behind her from the two MLE wizards standing guard as they felt the echo of her magic being smothered._

_She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, releasing it slowly and evenly as she tried to adjust to the empty feeling within her._

_The Ministry official cleared his throat uncomfortably and shoved a large brown paper package at her._

_"Your new papers" he said gruffly."Once you leave this building, Miss Snape, you will no longer be able to access any part of the wizarding world, domestic nor international. There are access points to the muggle underground to the north at Charing Cross and another on the Embankment to the north east..."_

_"I know..." She interrupted flatly._

_"Your temporary accommodation is in Maida Hill. You have one month to acquire a new premises. You can consider your sentence passed. Good Day, Miss Snape."_

_The Ministry official sniffed, waved his wand and the parchment before him glowed, rolled and tied itself with a red ribbon and disappeared in a flashed of light along with her wand._

_One of the MLE put a heavy hand on her shoulder and urged her from the office, while the other cast a notice me not around them as they escorted the dangerous criminal , Hermione Granger, through the Ministry of Magic as discretely as was possible._

*** *** ***

Severus Snapes appearance at her place of work nearly a year after her expulsion from the wizarding world was playing havoc with her focus. Seeing magic, so subtly used, was now a wonder to her again where it used to be common place. She closed her eyes and focused on her core, taking a deep breath, she searched for her magic, any hint or murmur from it. There was nothing.

She had done her grieving a year ago, that much was true but that didn't mean that it didn't still wound her.

Her new life snapped back into focus as Leanne stormed into the lab, her face scarlet with suppressed anger.

"That man..." She sputtered, heaving in vengeful breathes before calming herself instantly. Hermione wasn't sure how she did that, but it was impressive. 

"Very, Very rich." Leanne whispered to herself as a mantra. "So," She clapped her hands sharply. "Mr Prince advised me that he had given you specifications for what he is theoretically needing from us?" She demanded.

"Yes." Hermione nodded towards her workings, "I'm just translating his sketches and specs so I can check the viability and then it can be priced. He also mentioned a list of other smaller, much more workable product ... dust and cut stones, which will be profitable by themselves even if we can't achieve his desired results with a prototype."

"Good girl, Minnie." Leanne was normally quite cheap with her praise so Hermione accepted the heavy slap on the shoulder with nary a flinch.

Leanne leaned over the half finished schematic and frowned.

"What is it?" She enquired dubiously."Looks like a medieval cauldron..."

"It does." Hermione picked up her mechanical pencil and protractor again. "I think it's more for industrial compounds though, rather than magic potions." She laughed a little weakly.

"Eye of newt and a dead mans toe..." Leanne chuckled. "He doesn't look the type for that sort of fanciful nonsense. Get me the initial pricing and the timeline for a prototype by the end of tomorrow for me to pass on. Then we can present the prototype and if they are happy, we'll go into production." Leanne adjusted her cuffs and sniffed as if insulted. "We'll have the full contingent of his 'associates' for the prototype presentation, half a dozen reps I should imagine and hangers on." She puffed out her cheeks and began to swan from the room. "Chop-Chop Snape, time's a-wasting."

Hermoine rolled her eyes and returned to her work, pulling the parchment out from under her desk, where she had hastily shoved it. Leanne would have thought a parchment roll, with spidery scrawl that was obviously written with ink & quill, a little strange.

He was proposing a standard size 2 cauldron, with an 18ounce or just over 500ml capacity. It would be much lighter than the standard pewter. She would been to check on thickness, diamond would behave completely differently to the metal counterparts. She needed to check if they needed a diamond handle or if a metal/wood one would be needed, if he needed a lid? stirrers? blade?... oh... Mortar and Pestle? Should she present a full potions kit? Leanne wouldn't allow that, and she wouldn't understand what the stuff was for anyway.

What did they need a diamond cauldron for anyway?

She was suddenly a little wary. Who would be included in the 'contingent'? Whom exactly did Snape represent? She had a worrying thought that the 'M' in MS Alchemical Ltd. would be a Malfoy. Would she have to present ...?

Wait. No, that would be good. She could show them she was still Hermione Granger without their stupid magic. She could provide what they could not, not with all of their incantations and wand waving. It would be a good opportunity to prove that she didn't need them. She wondered if it could be good idea to conclude her presentation with a lifted middle finger.

*** *** ***  
_"Excuse me?" Kingsley Shackbolts eyes had shot wide and the smug looking smirk had slid from his face._

_"You heard me, Minister." Hermione replied smoothly. "I refuse. I choose the charges of criminal disobedience and I will stand trial."_

_"You do realise what a guilty verdict will bring, Hermoine?" Kingsley could not quite wipe the look of incredulity from his face. "You will have your magic suppressed and you will be expelled from the wizarding community."_

_"I fully understand." She said firmly. "I also understand what it means if I comply with you ridiculous draconian law. It will mean being enslaved by a man who, in essence, hates 'my kind' and to endure rape until I produce a magical heir... being treated like a brood mare."_

_"I think that is a very out of line exaggeration Miss Granger." Mrs Selwyn sneered slightly. She had been introduced as the Minister for Wizarding Registration._

_"And I think that it's a matter of perspective." Hermione shot back. "I understand you got to choose your husband, Mrs Selwyn, bought about by mutual 'interests' and affection, bought about by equal social standing. I doubt you would be with Mr Selwyn if he saw you as one of these."_

_Hermoine stood up and drew back the left hand sleeve of her shirt to reveal the raw, weeping curse wound left by Bellatrix. The assemblage of witches and wizards seated before her gasped. 'Mudblood' scored unhealing and ugly into her skin. Some averted their eyes and a-hemed into their hands._

_"You have dragged me in here alone, away from any support of my peers and friends..." She yanked her sleeve back down and glared at them in turn. "To intimidate me into accepting this farce."_

_"Miss Granger. Your two friends, Messers Potter and Weasley have accepted..." An older wizard piped up, to be railroaded again by the tetchy witch._

_"Yes, Mr Potter." She snarled. "An orphan who gets to marry his girlfriend into his best friends family who already view him as a son. And Mr Weasley, who would marry a hammock if it had a decent pair of tits, had a lingerie model dangled in front of his dangly bits... Yes, I can see the similarities between those things and being forced into the clutches of someone who tagged me of annihilation only a few sort WEEKS ago."_

_"The war is over, Miss Granger." Mrs Selwyn said in a bored tone._

_"Hermione." Kingsley shot Selwyn a warning glare. "Mr Nott and Mr Flint are not their fathers, they were your classmates."_

_"They were marked Deatheaters... both of them." Hermione interrupted again._

_"Your marriage could be the symbol of unity in the wizarding world... to show that harmony can be achieved even across the harshest divides." another old witch crooned serenely._

_"Wow." Hermione snorted. "You should print that on a tee shirt. I don't want to be a symbol for fuck all, especially at the expense of my own freedom."_

_"That is an incredibly selfish stance, Miss Granger." Mrs Selwyn sneered again._

_"I don't see anyone else sacrificing anything. I don't recall you huddling in our tent in the middle of winter, starving and frightened. I don't recall you systematically destroying Riddles horcruxes. I don't remember seeing you during the fight a couple of weeks ago, when children and teachers were forced to defend a SCHOOL... unless you were one of the people wearing the masks..."_

_"How Dare you!" Mrs Selwyn was on her feet and Hermione smirked._

_"Oh, Please..." Hermione waved her hand airily. "Your husband was in the inner circle, one of Tom Riddles little sycophants. He was one of the Deatheaters that attacked us when Harry was removed from the Dursleys home."_

_"I refuse to sit by and allow this little Mu - Muggleborn to slander my husband." Selwyn screeched back._

_Hermione raised an eyebrow at Kingsley and gave a start when he lowered his eyes to the tabletop. Kingsley had been with her... He knew Selwyn had been there, Riddle had taken his wand when Malfoys was destroyed. He was THERE!_

_The pause was enough time for Mrs Selwyn to continue._

_"I see no reason to delay Miss Grangers trial." She grated. "The Wizengamot is in session now. Let's get this over with and move on to more important matters like saving our society."_

*** *** ***

The 'trial' had taken place not an hour later.

Hermione had been alone again, isolated from her friends, from anyone who would support her. With no preparation, she'd had no opportunity to research the laws, any precedents. She had battled with the Wizengamot as well as she'd been able under the circumstances... each time shot down. She'd been judged guilty and shoved out the door as quickly and as quietly as was possible.

They'd had to create her a new identity. Her name recorded as deceased; The poor Granger couple had fled England to escape the memory of the horrific car accident that had claimed their beloved daughters life... or so their neighbours had believed. It was the reason given to the nosy neighbours by the real estate agent when they had come to 'view' the couples open home. No one questioned their abrupt departure with that rumor floating around.

Hermione had stumbled out of the red phone box outside of the Ministry into the bright Spring afternoon. She had blinked, a little dazed by the sudden turnabout, the paper wrapped package clutched to her chest containing the new her.


	4. Chapter 4

*** Friday Afternoon - 28th May 1999 ***  
* 1 year, 3 weeks and 5 days since the Battle of Hogwarts *

The day was here and Minerva Snape was feeling nauseatingly anxious.

Since the day that Severus Snape, or rather Mr Brian Prince of MS Alchemical Ltd., had stood up from his chair in conference room one of GeoSim Enterprises and turned to face her, Minnies mind had been in a veritable tizz. Her old life as one Hermione Jean Granger was intruding in on the current life that she had diligently forged for herself, usually at the most inopportune times. She had found herself, ofttimes, staring into space, recalling years of memories that she had endeavoured to bury as deeply as her magic had been unceremoniously shoved. Memories of friends, family, mentors and rivals. Memories of laughing, learning... tears and screams. Memories of war.

All of these surfacing recollections were culminating in that last day of her magical life. The day she had been shunted out into a London street in Whitehall with nothing but a brown paper wrapped parcel and the clothes on her back. Hermione Granger was not one to stand around and mope. She was a woman of action and Minerva Snape was no different. Sparing not even a single tear for her former life, Minerva had read her temporary address off the outside of her package and started on her way to Charing Cross Station with brisk, purposeful footfalls.

Minnie shook her head to disperse the memory before it began to take over. She needed to concentrate, they would be here soon.

She arranged the items on the table once again. The case that contained the prototype diamond cauldron was front and center. Once the niggly dimensions and specs were finalised it was relatively easy to mould. Minnie was quite proud of herself. It didn't make her any less nervous at the prospect of THIS meeting.

Leanne had left the room moments ago to meet the MS group with Minnies direct supervisor, Head of R and D, Dr Conrad Bishop. He had been bought in when the monetary value of the project had threatened to give Leanne an aneurysm. Minnie was simply too green and too young to manage a client of this caliber, someone with some gravitas was needed to calm any ruffled feathers that may reveal themselves. When the enquiry about Minnies discovery had been submitted, Leanne had thought exactly as Minnie had, they had wanted industrial stones and too see for themselves if the product was actually viable. The diamond receptacle had been a googly... Minnie chuckled at the term in spite of herself... her father would have been proud of her to remember a cricket term. She stifled thoughts of her father quickly.

The order had come in through the fax without preamble. 1 times diamond prototype receptacle to agreed specifications. 100 times 1 carat square cut diamonds, 100 times 2 carat round cut diamonds (all colourless and flawless, of course) and 2 pounds of fine ground diamond dust. The diamonds and dust had been packaged and sent... all that remained was the cauldron... receptacle.

And now they were here.

Minnie heard the distinct sound of voices approaching and squared her shoulders, she breathed in deeply though her nose and puffed out the exhale through her mouth.

Rachel came first passed the glass wall, she gave Minnie a quick smile and reached for the door. She stepped in, quickly stepped aside to allow the MS contingent admittance.

Hermiones tensed up as Snape glided through the door first. She gulped as Lucius Malfoy, dressed as flawlessly as she'd ever seen in a Savile Row, expertly tailored, double breasted, bespoke and very muggle suit, followed just as smoothly behind him... She knew it!

And then things went slightly strange. Well, more strangely than expected.

Madam Pomfrey bustled in next dressed in what may have been a Chanel suit in powder blue, the Hogwarts matrons eyes widened as she lay eyes on Hemione but she remained discrete and continued on her course to the boardroom table. Arthur Weasley was next. Hermiones mouth hung open at the sight of the Weasley patriarch and she felt tears begin to condense amongst her lashes. He had stopped dead on the threshold of the conference room and gaped at her, not as schooled as the others at controlling his emotions. He was shoved from behind by... Draco Malfoy? What the Deuce?

Theo Nott wandered in with his eyes fixed firmly on the floor.

Leanne and Conrad bought up the rear with a woman that Hermione vaguely recognised, but she couldn't recall from where.

Hermione stood tall in the face of a wall of witches and wizards, she was painfully conscious of her lack of magic and looked at each magic imbued individual with wide eyes and a stiff spine. She was surprised by the group, but not about to show any weakness.

Rachel closed the door and hurried around the table to sit slightly behind where Leanne would sit.

Leanne took the spot at the center of the long table and Conrad stood to her right, Hermione to the left. The groups eye balled each other across the table. Leanne raised her hand to indicate that they all should sit and Hermione took the queue and started to lower herself into her chair.

Madam Pomfrey, Malfoy Senior and Mr Weasley suddenly drew their wands and pointed them across the table.

"Stupefy." They intoned in unison.

Snape muttered softly under his breath and a series of wards settled over the room. Nott and Malfoy Junior scuttled around the table to check the status of the suddenly unconscious muggles and the other slightly familiar lady settled herself into her chair and smiled serenely across the table at Hermione who had frozen in shock, half squatting over her chair, having not made it all the way to a seated position.

Hermione turned her head and watched as Nott and Malfoy arranged Leanne and Conrad into semi comfortable positions, their head resting on their crossed arms as they hunched over the table top and Rachel was still sitting in her chair behind them with her ankles crossed, arms limp at her sides and her head lolling about on her neck.

"What The FUCK?" Hermione regained her voice suddenly and she was enraged, she shot back to her feet. "You can't just be going around hexing innocent muggles."

"Calm yourself, Miss Granger." Snape soothed as he sat himself down at the head of the table. "Your work colleagues are fine."

Hermione drew in a huge breath, quite ready to give them all a right verbal bollocking, when her face was suddenly smothered into Mr Weasleys shoulder and her arms clamped to her sides by his arms wrapping too tightly around her. She issued a muffled squawk.

"Oh, Hermione." He sobbed. "If we'd known... if we'd had any clue... So sorry..."

He drew back from her and clamped his hands on both sides of her face. Hermione was genuinely surprised to see tears flowing freely down his cheeks. He let go of her face and clutched onto her right hand drawing it up and staring at her dampening cuff. He covered it with both of his shaky hands, pressing his palms into it as if to make it disappear.

Hermione was confused.

And then Madam Pomfrey was there, gently releasing Mr Weasleys grip on Hermione and leading him to one of the chairs as he continued to sob.

"Is that tea?" The familiar witch asked brightly, pointing at the dispenser on the sideboard behind Snape, who was glaring at the blubbering Mr Weasley in something that might have been disgust and possibly amusement.

"What?" Hermione said absently. "Oh yes, tea, coffee, snacks..."

"Hmmm, what type?"

"Uhh, English breakfast, I imagine."

"Oh," The witch said enthusiastically. "I'll have to partake... anyone else?"

She got up quickly and bustled to the refreshment spread. She picked up a cup and saucer and looked at the machine quizzically for a moment.

"How do I get it out?" She muttered, prodding the dispenser with her wand.

Mr Malfoy... surprisingly... sidled up beside her and relieved her of her cup and waved her aside. "Really, Miriam." He snorted and he pulled the toggle to release the fragrant tea. He handed her the full cup and picked up another filling it with black coffee. He picked up a chocolate Hobnob and sauntered back to his chair with an air of superiority.

"Can someone please tell me what on earth is going on?" Hermione cried.

Snape decided to finally speak up.

"We're here for the presentation of the prototype, Miss Granger." He said as if she were a bit dim. "and to continue our discussion on the other matter."

He glided to his feet and drifted smoothly behind his companions one by one.

"You, of course, know Lucius Malfoy my business partner." He started formal introductions as if Hermione had never seen any of these people before and as if there were three people not slumped unconscious in their seats. "Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office and is here as a representative of the Ministry, to make sure we are working above board in this endeavour. Healer Miriam Stroat, Head of the Janus Thickey Ward at St Mungos and her apprentice Mr Nott, whom I'm sure you remember... from school. And Madam Poppy Pomfrey, Mediwitch for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, whom, I assume, you recall as well."

There was an indiscreet cough from the end of the table and Draco Malfoy looked up at Snape with an expectant grin on his face.

"And Draco." Snape sneered, flicking his fingers dismissively and sailing back to his seat.

"Junior partner at MS Alchemical... So..." Draco drawled. "Minnie... SNAPE?"

Hermione sent him a look that could've withered an entire forest as she settled into her chair amongst her unconscious peers.

"Draco." Mr Malfoy said in warning.

Mr Weasley seemed to have pulled himself together and was dabbing at his eyes with a threadbare handkerchief.

"We shall get onto the other matter shortly, Miss Granger.' Snape was intent on keeping it business like, regardless of the unconventional goings on, "Now, I believe that you have something to show us."

Hermione gazed at each of the witches and wizards in turn, tapping her pen on the table agitatedly and trying to assimilate what was going on around her. She inwardly shook herself. She was expecting magic folk... this was fine. Totally fine. She could work with this, it was just another presentation... she cast a sidelong look at the inert Leanne and Conrad ... sort of.

She hesitantly reached in front of her and dragged the case containing the cauldron closer to herself before taking to her feet again.

"I shall just dispense with the formalities, shall I?" She said softly, cracking open the lid of the case.

She reached in and lifted the delicate looking vessel and set it in the center of the boardroom table. It looked like glass with a supernatural sheen and sparkle.

"One standard size 2 flawless diamond cauldron, with detachable diamond ring handle and lid." She said proudly as the magical contingent either leaned in to look closer or leaned back in awe. "You are welcome to examine it, of course."

Snape looked ready to swoop down on it but he held himself back and looked at Arthur Weasley in irritation.

"Well, go on Arthur, check it over... Quickly." He snapped impatiently.

There were obviously protocols to observe when dealing with muggle items for magical use, Hermione supposed. She had never really thought on it. Mr Weasley rose and smiled at her shakily and a little watery, before drawing his wand and muttering incantation after incantation over her creation. All manner of shimmering and glowing appeared and dissipated as the cauldron was thoroughly checked over. It took a few minutes of stilted silence with Snape glowering proprietorially the whole while. Mr Weasley finally stepped back with a pleased smile at Hermione before he turned to his group.

"Muggle." He pronounced. "Through and through. Not an ounce of magic in it."

"Goodness." Healer Stroat murmured softly, looking at Hermione in surprise.

"Not totally muggle." Hermione admitted with a shrug. "a fair bit of arithmancy was involved."

Snape all but shoved Mr Weasley out of the way and began casting over the small cauldron himself, no doubt checking for flaws. He was oblivious to everyone else in the room.

Lucius Malfoy reclined back into his chair and sipped his coffee. "So tell me, Miss Granger..." His lips twitched into a brief smile. "How did this little marvel come about, hmmm?"

"I'm afraid, Mr Malfoy, that information is protected by GeoSims patent and the confidentially clause in my contract." She replied a little snidely.

"I see that a year in the muggle wasteland hasn't cooled your temper, Miss Granger. " He said with a smirk.

She wanted to poke her tongue out at him like a child but refrained. She also considered actually flipping him off... she refrained again. Very grown up of her.

"Hermione, dear." Madam Pomfrey hesitantly rose from her chair and moved around the table. May I cast a few diagnostics on you my dear?"

Hermione looked at her in surprise but nodded dumbly. She was perfectly fit as far as she was aware but she trust the Hogwarts matron implicitly.

Madam Pomfrey smiled reassuringly and lifted her wand and began casting. Hermione suddenly felt very similar to the cauldron.

Snape had finished whatever it was he had been doing and was watching Madam Pomfrey avidly.

She turned to him when she was done and shook her head minisculely.

"Just the cuff." She murmured to him. She turned back to Hermione who was looking on somewhat dazedly and patted her cheek with a soft hand before returning to her chair.

Snape cleared his throat and stood tall beside the boardroom table.

"This is adequate." He sniffed, twitching his wand towards the cauldron. "We shall place an order for our needs upon our return to the hospital."

Healer Stroat nodded with a smile and rose from her chair again. She shuffled over to the refreshments again, refilling her tea and selecting a Jammie Dodger.

"Now, Miss Granger." He began smoothly. "As to that other matter we had discussed."

The witches and wizards collectively shifted in their seats and were now looking a little angry. Mr Malfoy looked particularly put out as he smoothed the front of his suit jacket.

"It seems that the Ministry of Magic have done you a horrendous disservice."

"No kidding." Hermione muttered.

"They are also guilty of an unpardonable crime against the entire wizarding community."

Madam Pomfrey pressed her lips together and Mr Weasley gripped his wand until his knuckles were white.

"You see, Miss Granger." Snape eased around the table until he was standing before her. "It seems that the reason that you have not been contacted by any of your former friends..."

"Current friends, Snape." Arthur rankled from his seat.

Snape continued as if not interrupted.

"... is because you have been obliviated from their memories." He stared down into her eyes, his black irises glittering. "You've been obliviated from everyones memories."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't proof read. It may well be... It will be... riddled with mistakes. Sorry, no time.

*** Tuesday Afternoon - 18th May 1999 ***

"Lucius!"

Severus Snapes voice thundered through the halls of Malfoy manor. He flicked his wand furiously and his habitual inky robes settled about him and his hair hung loose once again. Severus swooped across the entrance hall, his dragon hide boots making no sound on the polished marble floors... it was as if he were hovering over the ground rather than stomping over it.

"Lucius... Where the FUCK is everyone?" Snape bellowed again.

"Have we forgotten how to use our inside voice, Severus?" Lucius Malfoy strolled nonchalantly from his study cradling a crystal tumbler of amber spirits in one hand.

Severus bee lined for him, stopping in his personal space and snatching the glass from him.

"Why..." He snarled deeply, "did no one bother to advise me of the penalty for defying the bloody marriage law?"

He gulped back Lucius' drink and glared at his so-called friend.

"What are you blathering on about?" Lucius replied a little taken aback by Severus' abandonment of his usual cool self control. He seemed quite vexed.

Snapes nostrils flared.

"I just came from the meeting at GeoSim and who should be fronting the thrice damned cauldron project but Hermione bloody Granger!"

Lucius keen slate eyes glazed for the barest millisecond before sharpening back to their usual clarity, long enough for Snape to take note.

"And whom, may I enquire, is Hermione Granger?" Lucius smirked lasciviously, "Well, Well... have you acquired a muggle paramour, you Sly Dog?"

Snapes eyebrows drew together in a deep frown and not from the implication that he was having an illicit dalliance with a muggle woman and Lucius realised that something was very wrong. His spine straightening and eyes narrowing, Lucius Malfoy cast aside his cavalier attitude.

"Who is Hermione Granger?" Lucius asked again, his face now as serious as Snapes was.

Snape smoothly drew his wand from his sleeve and pointed it at Lucius' temple. His dark eyes locked on cool slate.

"Lucius... Who is Hermione Granger?" He asked slowly and clearly, enunciating each word.

Lucius furrowed his brow in deep thought for a moment, his irises flicking from side to side as he searched his memory for the name. He clenched his jaw and scrunched his face up in effort, eyes closing and the lines in the corners becoming deep and pronounced. He shook his head after a long while with a huff and looked back at Snape. He glanced quickly at the wand pointed at his head, drew in a deep breath and nodded.

"Legilimens." Snape intoned, gently slipping inside his friends mind.

Granger had said that it had been almost a year... The Ministry's damned Marriage Law was the catalyst.

Snape began to flit back in time. He delved back until he found traces of the Law, Dracos wedding to the Halfblood girl from Hufflepuff, Susan Bones. Back further as Lucius negotiated for a half blood with an influential family name to tack onto the Malfoys. Back further still as Lucius tried to circumvent the law by marrying Draco off in secret to one of the Greengrass girls or the Bulstrode girl who had a muggle grandparent or something but was still one of the twenty eight families (Draco had angrily veto'd that one.)

He found himself at the auspicious day that the law was announced... too far. He cycled back slowly.

Wait, what was that? There was an infinitesimal blip in one of Lucius' most inane memories. Snape zero'd in on it. Any 'Blip' in Lucius' mind was noteworthy, the mans mind was well oiled machine, though he tended to hide it well sometimes.

Lucius was sitting at the expansive mahogany table in the Malfoys breakfast room. He picked up a steaming cup of black coffee and reclined back into his chair picking up the Prophet as he did so. He unfolded newspaper... shook it out and... and... nothing...

Lucius's eyes opened wide as he witnessed what Snape was seeing inside his head. He opened his mind as wide as he was able and encouraged Snape to investigate further.

There had to be a memory of Granger that Lucius could not, without a doubt, forget. Snape grimaced as he knew just the one.

He had not been there, but he had heard... He had heard but he had no desire to witness it.

He delved back further into the past of Lucius' memories and eventually found what he was looking for.

The Malfoy drawing room came into focus: Potter, his face distorted out of all proportion by a stinging curse. The garish tumble of Weasleys ginger mop and... and... nothing.

Granger wasn't there.

Snape removed himself from Lucius' mind a tad more forcefully than was necessary causing Malfoy to sway backwards and he required a steadying hand on his shoulder.

Lucius drew in a breath and raised a slightly shaky hand to his temple, rubbing furiously in an attempt to waylay the inevitable blinding headache.

"Am I to understand," He grated in an offended tone as he massaged his head. "that I know this Granger person? That I have been tampered with?"

"You know of Potter and Weasley?" Snape asked in an impatient one.

Lucius gave him a flat glare from under his hand. That was obvious as they had just been seen in his memories.

"And what name has been attributed to those boys?"

Lucius rolled his eyes and began to lazily drawl. "The Golden Tr..." He blinked.

"And whom exactly is the third member of the Golden TRIO?"

Lucius Malfoys eyes darkened and a scowl overtook his handsome face.

"Hermione Granger?" He said flatly. "Who?" He growled lowly, shades of the Deatheater in him coming to the fore. "Who obliviated me?"

"Temper." Snape soothed softly, his baritone calm. "I don't believe it was you alone. Do you recall the date of that Daily Prophet?"

Lucius narrowed his eyes again.

"22nd May 1998." He said finally.  
\----------------------------- *~~~~~~~~~~~~* ---------------------------

*** Friday Afternoon - 28th May 1999 ***

Hermione was in utter shock.

She looked at each of the wizards and witches in conference room one in turn. Her bottom lip began to tremble as her eyes settled on Mr Weasley, who was tearing up yet again.

"You - You didn't abandon me?" She whispered, her voice catching.

Mr Weasley choked out a sob just as Hermiones legs began to crumple out from under her. Snape hands whipped out and caught hold of her before she hit the floor. She clutched at the lapels of his suit jacket and buried her face into his crisp white shirt.

A whole year. She'd been alone for a whole year out in a world that was no longer her own and she'd had to contend with the lingering emptiness inside of her where her magic had lain... everyday to plague her. She'd had to remember how to navigate the muggle world and she'd had to do it all by herself. She believed her friends had turned away from her. She couldn't even turn to any of her parents friends or associates, they had thought her dead and buried. Her parents were gone, their memories of her washed away like words written in sand. So Alone.

And now, when she had carved a semi successful life for herself; Had made new friends, had a home of her own, a job she was good at... even a burgeoning social life...

They hadn't abandoned her... they had been made to forget her.

Snape patted her rather awkwardly on the shoulder and looked around the room for assistance. Both of the Malfoys were grinning. Poppy was busy comforting a very distraught Weasley. Stroat didn't really know the girl and Nott was staring at the table top, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

He was on his own. He had comforted his Slytherins back in the day... he could comfort a Gryffindor at a stretch. He wrapped his arms around the young woman and waiting with a resigned look on his face, rubbing her back half-heartedly while she struggled to her to pull herself together. He should have told her from across the room.

"Miss Granger." He said softly. "No one abandoned you. In fact, your former friends caused quite the ruckus, if Arthurs memories are anything to go by."

She looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy, but dry. If the young woman could contain the waterworks then what the hell was wrong with Weasley. He'd thought he'd contacted the most level headed of the red haired menaces.

"Tell me." She said, her voice stronger than her looks promised.

"If you'd like to unhand me..." He said releasing her gently and prying her fingers from his lapels, squeezing her hands before releasing those as well.

Hermione stepped back and looked up at him with large and imploring cinnamon and honey eyes.

His lips twitched in what he hoped was an encouraging smile. He knew it didn't quite work, he probably looked like he was having a stroke, so he stopped.

"It seems, Miss Granger that, immediately after your 'trial'... and I use that term extremely loosely as it was criminal in and of itself..." He began, indicating that she should sit. She complied, keeping her eyes fixed on him as he moved to his own seat and sat smoothly in the comfy chair. "Mr Potter and the entirety of the ginger population of wizarding Britain stormed the courtroom and demanded you be produced forthwith and began to make an impressively large amount of threats... which included but were not limited to the use of unforgivables against the Wizengamot and Mr Potter rising as the new Dark Lord." Snape shook his head as he recalled the unseemly performance he'd seen in Arthurs head.

"You were correct in your assumption, Miss Granger, when you supposed that they were to use you as the example for what would befall those who defied the Marriage Law." Snape continued, interlacing his long fingers and laying them on the table before him. "They were, unfortunately for them, not fully prepared for the furious backlash your treatment aroused and not by just your closest friends. Word was out by that evening... crowds were assembling... pitchforks may have been involved."

Lucius Malfoy never liked playing second fiddle to anyone and took up the narrative.

"The Ministry went into damage control in their usual hysterical fashion. The mob was subdued with the promise that all troublesome issues would be rectified by the end of the next day... they certainly did that." He sniffed in an affronted manner. "The extra special edition of the Daily Prophet was sent out with a powerful and completely illegal compulsion curse on it and a targeted Obliviate." He leaned back nonchalantly in his chair. "I opened the paper and you were gone from my mind... Not that I thought on you much to begin with. Some bloody good blanket curse work actually. Narcissa was even effected by it... and she never touches that rag." He muttered with grudging admiration in his tone.

"I was unaffected." Snape picked up the thread again as Malfoy drifted, no doubt trying to figure out if he could use the canny spells without being caught. "I was insensate at the time of the curses release... there may be more people also. If Lucius had attended the meeting instead of me, which was the plan originally, though someone claimed illness that morning." He glared at Lucius who picked up his coffee cup and sipped delicately with his pinky in the air. "... you would still be... consigned to oblivion."

"I would have recognised Mr Malfoy. But I doubt I would have said anything to him if he showed he didn't recognise me... or was ignoring my real identity." Hermione picked up her pen and began to tap it on the table top. When had she acquired that annoying habit? "You reversed the curse." She spoke to the tabletop before raising her eyes to Snapes and then looking at the rest of the witches and wizards around the table.

"Only those you see." Snape said gently, "I'm but one wizard after all. Lucius, he was the first I saw after encountering you. Draco, he was loitering at the manor, though I'm sure he has his own home. Narcissa as well. Lucius insisted. Poppy and Miriam, they are part of the committee for this project." He let his gaze linger on the diamond cauldron that had bought them all together for a moment. "Nott... and I approached Arthur for multiple reasons, one was because I thought he would not dissolve into a puddle at the first opportunity." Snape turned a disapproving eye on Mr Weasley.

"Harry?... Ron?" She asked hopefully. 

"Not yet." Snape replied. "They are bound to be... emotional... and we needed to check you over first and for some plan of attack without grandiose histrionics."

'Hermione." Mr Weasley cleared his throat, having fully recovered from his second bout of weeping. "The ministry won't rescind the Law, even when you, and their crimes, are revealed. And no one will want them to because it's worked. There have been some unfortunate pairings, to be fair, but the healthy birth rates sky rocketed and that was the Laws aim... to replenish our society and step back from... ah... " he cast a quick look at Lucius Malfoy, who raised an eyebrow in return daring him to complete the sentence. " Well..."

"Glass houses, Weasley." Lucius sneered. "Last I checked, both you and Molly were pureblood too... and both 28s as well."

Mr Weasley dipped his head in acknowledgement.

"There will be outrage of course... some of it even on your behalf, Hermione, may I call you Hermione?" Healer Stroat spoke for the first time and continued with Hermiones answering nod. "but it will die down quickly, it always does in favour of something else to be outraged about. The cauldron will eclipse the story as soon as it is put to use. There are many new parents waiting on this little beauty." She said with a smile. She reached over and chucked Theo Nott on the shoulder heartily. He did not respond though Healer Stroat failed to notice.

"What is it for?" Hermione asked, her professional curiosity overriding her emotional state.

"A small issue arose that was unforeseen and the cauldron will remedy it if all of our calculations are correct." Healer Stroat replied. "I understand that you were quite the gifted Arithmancer, still are by the looks."

"What issue?" Hermione pressed, not to be distracted by praise as she once would have been.

"Children with pureblood parents who have married muggleborns and halfbloods are becoming unwell. Healer Stroat is an expert on curse damage and Poppy on pediatric care... She also knows the medical history of every former Hogwarts student for the last few decades." Snape provided softly from his position at the end of the table. He had been quiet for some time.

"So it's a curse then?" Hermione asked tapping her pen on the desk. "and it doesn't effect muggleborn and halfblood pairings..." she whispered thoughtfully. "What about existing pureblood pairings? Is it just those who have married beneath them?"

The whole table started at her wording and she snorted.

"Do you really think hundreds, maybe thousands of years of blood status obsession just vanished overnight?" She said. "I bet neither of these two married a muggleborn." Nott stiffened noticeably in his seat. "and I bet you tried to find a way around the law at first as well... to marry a pureblood..."

"I was going to." Nott said softly. He raised his head for the first time in the whole meeting and his eyes bored into Hermione across the table. "I was supposed to marry a muggleborn, but she didn't want me." He stood up from the table suddenly and roughly pulled up the sleeve of his jacket revealing the pale underside of his left forearm. An unblemished forearm.

"Mr Snape, would you be so kind as to lower the wards for a moment. I require some air." Nott said tightly, pulling his sleeve back down and gazing at an open mouthed Hermione sadly before turning and walking straight backed for the door. The wards shimmered as Snape lowered them and he exited quietly.

The room was uncomfortably quiet for a moment in the wake of Theo Notts sudden departure and near declaration, until Snape cleared his throat.

"Well, we still have many things to discuss." He said smoothly, "but I think that this is a good place to stop... for now. Their hexes will be wearing off soon anyway and I don't believe it's good for muggles to get a double dose like that." Healer Stroat nodded in agreement. He turned to a suddenly subdued Hermione.

"So, Miss Granger, on that note... Do you wish to return to Wizarding Britain?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A talky talk talk chapter. Will have to tide ya'll over. I have neglected my other story, better write a couple of chapters of that, then I'll be back.


End file.
